Credit card fraud by cell phone on the rise, warn Howell police

Android Pay nearly paid off for a Newark woman now charged with trying to boost about $3,000 worth of goods from Howell Township's Best Buy. Police are warning that it's a growing entry point for credit fraud and identity theft.

Ayisha Alexander, 25, was charged Wednesday with fraudulent use of a credit card and theft by deception.

She allegedly paid with data stored on a cell phone via the popular Google Pay option.

According to police, Alexander, with a three-year-old child in tow, was reported by store workers and headed off in the parking lot by responding officers.

Alexander was placed in the Monmouth County Correctional Institute in Freehold, with bail set at $1,500. The toddler was placed in the custody of family members.

Police advise that thieves still steal credit information through conventional means, but by activating Google Pay for it they no longer need to create an entirely separate card.